ZERO gas flaring supported by PuraMem® VOC
ZERO gas flaring supported by PuraMem® VOC

PURAMEM® VOC

Membrane separation technology for Flare Gas Recovery

Evonik makes it possible to turn flare gas into a valuable energy source. Using innovative membrane separation technology, natural gas liquids can be efficiently separated from the flare gas. The recovered methane can be used to generate power, for example, without having to burn it off. 

The oil and gas industry is facing major challenges due to new regulations with respect to global climate protection efforts. Oil companies are desperately looking for solutions to reduce emissions, whether by increasing the efficiency of plant operations or by improving the utilization of by-products generated during oil and gas production.

zero gas flaring - saving ressources

During oil production, associated gas is produced during surface oil separation processes. Much of this associated gas is utilized or conserved because governments and oil companies have made substantial investments to capture it; nevertheless, some of it is flared because of technical or economic constraints. As a result, there are thousands of gas flares at oil production sites around the globe burn approximately 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, causing more than 300 million tons of CO2 to be emitted to the atmosphere.

Flaring of gas contributes to climate change and impacts the environment through emission of CO2, black carbon, methane and other pollutants. It also wastes a lot of valuable energy resource that could be used to advance the sustainable development of producing countries. For example, if this amount of gas were used for power generation, it could provide about 750 billion kWh of electricity, or more than the African continent’s current annual electricity consumption. Because the Associated Gas is almost always heavy hydrocarbon rich (i.e. high C3+ content), using it as energy source requires removal of heavy hydrocarbons (C2+) as  NGL (Natural Gas Liquids).

PURAMEM® VOC membranes for Flare Gas Recovery

PURAMEM® VOC offers a safe and efficient process for flare gas recovery with the lowest operating cost of any technology available. The membrane separates heavy hydrocarbons as Natural Gas Liquids (NGL), water or hydrogen sulphide from Methane, while keeping the Methane at pressure.

MEMBRANE PROPERTIES:

  • Consistently high performance
    PURAMEM® VOC is an especially robust, spiral-wound module membrane, which is based on Evonik high-performance polymers, optimized for the specific applications. It features a stable performance over long time periods and challenging operating conditions.
  • Flexible diameter
    Our membranes have been designed for conventional, membrane-based natural gas processing plants. As plug-in replacement for all standard membranes (7.95 to 8.3'') no further adaptations are required to the existing equipment.

YOUR BENEFITS

  • Environmentally friendly processing
  • Safe process and simple start-up
  • Increased product value
  • Lower energy consumption
  • No auxiliary materials such as water or sorbents required
  • No emissions into the environment
  • Separation at ambient temperature is possible
  • Simple, modular setup
  • Flexible and easily expanded

SUPPORTING THE WORLD BANK'S “ZERO ROUTINE FLARING BY 2030” INITIATIVE

The World Bank's “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative commits governments and oil companies to end routine flaring by 2030. The main objective is to support cooperation between all relevant stakeholders so that solutions to gas flaring can be successfully implemented through appropriate regulation, application of technologies, and financial arrangements. By offering its innovative PURAMEM® VOC membrane separation technology for flare gas recovery, Evonik enables the energy industry to cut CO2 emissions and supports the World Bank's “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative.

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